Re: Renaming files: annoying automatic re-selection of entire filename in Windows 8

Hi! I too have been driven crazy by this for years. It happens for me in Windows Explorer, whether I am navigating a Dropbox file structure or one solely on my computer (i.e., not synced to another service).

I found a solution on this site: https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/21198-file-explorer-rename-name-select-delay-interrupts-edit.html and so far it is working for me. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it requires you to stop using Windows Media Player.

1. Go to control panel and search for "windows features"
2. You should see something called "turn windows features on and off" -- click on that
3. There should be a pop-up window with a directory-style interface (see picture)
4. Uncheck "Media Features"
5. Probably restart

For good measure, I also uninstalled Windows Media Player. I did not test this before uninstalling WMP.

It's not a real fix but I am happy to use different players in exchange for relief from this editing curse.

Thanks a lot! And * * Microsoft, honestly.

A tip for noobs like me, or foreigners like me, this is found under "Programs and Features" from All Control Panel Items - which helps navigating the tree in other languages. Then from left panel, under admin protection, "Turn Windows features on or off" -> Opens the "Windows Featrues" window.. For example, "Ohjelmat ja Toiminnot" in Finnish -> "Ota windowsin ominaisuuksia käyttöön tai poista niitä käytöstä" -> "Windows-Ominaisuudet" window opens.

Hi! I too have been driven crazy by this for years. It happens for me in Windows Explorer, whether I am navigating a Dropbox file structure or one solely on my computer (i.e., not synced to another service).

I found a solution on this site: https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/21198-file-explorer-rename-name-select-delay-interrupts-edit.html and so far it is working for me. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it requires you to stop using Windows Media Player.

1. Go to control panel and search for "windows features"
2. You should see something called "turn windows features on and off" -- click on that
3. There should be a pop-up window with a directory-style interface (see picture)
4. Uncheck "Media Features"
5. Probably restart

For good measure, I also uninstalled Windows Media Player. I did not test this before uninstalling WMP.

It's not a real fix but I am happy to use different players in exchange for relief from this editing curse.

This fixed it for me!

Thank you so much.

Years of annoying procedures like: Rename -> CTRL+Z -> Rename again but waiting for explorer to select all... Are gone now <3

Changed my life xD

Dear Microsoft,

Please, please, please fix this! It has been annoying me for years. :-( Usually, it only auto-selects the whole name 1-2 times, but never more than 3, and then I can insert characters in the name or something similar as needed. Right now, after a recent update it never stops. It makes renaming files by changing a subset of characters (e.g., sequences like file001.txt, file002.txt, etc.) nearly impossible in the GUI. :-p

An unhappy customer,

Jeff Buxton

This has bothered me for many years. This thread didn't solve it, but it did help me observe what was happening, at least in my case.

I notice this most often when I am renaming many files. Like I want to add the word "lecture" in front of 20 files.

What I observed is that in my OneDrive files,

1. As soon as I change the name of File 1, it resyncs that file. That takes about 2 seconds.
2. But after 1 second, I am already renaming the File 2.
3. When File 1 completes the sync, Windows seems to reset the folder which means it selects the entire file name for me in File 2, while I am half-done editing. Annoying!

What I noticed is that if I wait 2 seconds for File 1 to complete its sync, and then select File 2, then Windows does not reset the folder while I am editing File 2 and the problem goes away.

Of course this is also annoying, to wait 2 seconds (or longer for large files) for the previous file to sync before starting the next, in what was supposed to be a fast repetitive task.

So what I did instead was close OneDrive. Then the syncs stay pending. I edit all file names, and then turn OneDrive back on to complete the syncs. That worked for me, or has so far. I have not tested other scenarios yet.

Just before the bug appeared I had configured Windows Search to index my entire volume D. After I see this solution, I take out my volume D from Windows search and the bug completely disappeared.

I tried the other proposed solutions, but this one was the only one that functioned.